The Dangers of Taurine, Commonly Found in Energy Drinks

The multi-billion dollar phenomenon of energy drinks has the attention of scientists everywhere. One of the main reasons is taurine, a big player in the caffeine and sugar-laden concoctions.

Taurine in Energy Drinks

Taurine is a free form amino acid contained in foods and manufactured in the body from the amino acid cysteine. It was first discovered in the bile of bulls, and now produced synthetically by the truckload. Since taurine is created naturally in the human body, a good diet supplies all you need.

Studies have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease. For these reasons it’s been banned in some European countries – like Switzerland – after being linked to the deaths of three consumers.

Because taurine is utilized by the body during exercise and in times of stress, it’s become a popular ingredient in energy drinks. But taurine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system that’s very unnatural.

Is Taurine an Upper or Downer? Surprising New Research on the Brain

Scientists have known for a couple of years that taurine is involved somehow in the development and function of the brain. But recently they’ve discovered a more defined area of taurine’s neurological activity.

Taurine and Brain Health

In a recent article from MedicalNewsToday.com, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York say they were “surprised” to find taurine “extraordinarily active” on brain receptors. Even though taurine is known to be a key amino acid, the researchers say they’re curious and puzzled still about the function of taurine in the brain, and have more questions than answers.

They found taurine working deep inside the brain, in the “regulatory” area of the thalamus, interacting with neurotransmitters. The thalamus is involved in sleep/wake cycle pathways in the brain and other activities.

“Its inclusion in these supplements is a little puzzling, because our research would suggest that instead of being a pick-me-up, the taurine actually would have more of a sedative effect on the brain,” the scientists said.

Doctors involved in the report stated:

“Remarkably little is known about the effects of energy drinks on the brain. We can’t even be sure how much of the taurine in the drink actually reaches the brain! Assuming that some of it does get absorbed, the taurine-which, if anything, seems to have a sedating effect on the brain-may actually play a role in the ‘crash’ people often report after drinking these highly caffeinated beverages. People have speculated that the post-Red Bull low was simply a caffeine-rebound effect, but it might also be due to the taurine content.” [1]

That’s a huge concern because it’s become trendy with young people to mix the drinks with alcohol. The daily dose of Taurine should be between 100-500mg, and one can of a popular energy drink, for example, has 1000 milligrams of synthetically produced Taurine. Some people are drinking up to eight cans a day (8000mg of Taurine), an amount that can have drug-like effects on the body and cause damage. Furthermore, mixing stimulants with sedatives, especially alcohol, is extremely risky.

Taurine: The Magic Bullet for Energy?

There’s no magic bullet for strength and endurance. I would recommend that you avoid energy drinks. Treat them like soft drinks, or even worse. The lofty claims on these drinks for instant vitality are simply outrageous. A good, varied diet of whole organic live foods gives you all the Taurine you need, without the highs and lows of energy drinks.

Natural Taurine is actually beneficial for the body and can be found in cows milk, meat, fish and eggs and for vegetarians it can be found seaweed. The daily dose of Taurine should be no higher than 500mg.

Make sure you exercise and get enough sleep, and remember, medicine and illness can zap your energy. Stay properly hydrated with lots of purified water, especially when you’re exercising hard or you’re stressed. It’s a good idea to drink lots of water regardless.

Take a pass on the “crash and burn” high from caffeine and sugar – and taurine. The ingredients of these drinks, both mysterious and some not too mysterious, are a recipe for disaster. They may “give you wings,” but you’ll soon come tumbling down – and in the long run, crash really hard.

Dr. Edward F. Group III has his Naturopathic Doctorate, Clinical Herbalist, Holistic Health Practitioner, Clinical Nutritionist certifications, and is a Diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition and the American Board of Functional Medicine. He founded Global Healing Center Inc. in 1998 which has earned recognition as one of the largest alternative, natural and organic health resources on the Internet.

A dynamic author and speaker, Dr. Group focuses solely on spreading the message of health and wellness to the global community with the philosophy of full body cleansing, most importantly colon cleansing, consuming pure clean organic food, water, air, exercise and nutritional supplementation. Visit GlobalHealingCenter.com to learn more about living green and healthy!

Comments

Thank you for your warning about taurine drinks. I totally agree that it is better to get taurine from food rather than experiment with supplements that have so many unknowns. I regret having tried it. At the time, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of side effects. WRONG! Even a miniscule amount of a 1,000 mg capsule (maybe one twentieth or so mixed in water) caused me to immedieately felt dizzy and sick. I plan to get my taurine from whole foods like eggs.

anonymous 11/23/09: … no one is attacking energy drinks, just pointing out facts. I think the emphasis of the “produced synthetically by the truckload” claim is the “by the truckload” factor.

A product that is intended to produce energy must obviously have the side-effects it has on the body, because that ‘energy’ must come from somewhere, and those very things affected are the very things the ‘energy’ is derived.

Something synthetic is, by nature, not natural. As being a natural body, a human should not process unnatural things.

True, a molecule is a molecule regardless of its origin, but when introduced to a body that regulates its own compounds the excess molecules complicate natural processes…

This is very interesting, because we had a cat who had a taurine problem, and the best way to get that into my cat was through the dark meat from chicken. The legs and anywhere that had muscle meat. This being the case, wouldn’t that be the best place for us to get that into us? I know we are not cats; however, we share some things with all animals. If one is a vegan obviously there would be another method involved probably through some kind of lentil, vegetable protein, etc. Hope this helps. Rhonda

“produced synthetically by the truckload” – so? Every bottled supplement on earth is produced synthetically.

“Studies have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease.” – Citation needed. Oh, and again, what has the fact that it’s synthetic got to do with anything?

“But taurine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system that’s very unnatural.” – and yet you go on to quote actual doctors who say it’s a sedative? Which is it?

Great reply. I generally agree with the natural vs. synthetic argument. My point has been that if I take some oxygen and some hydrogen, I can make “synthetic” water, it is identical to regular water and has the same effect. However, that being said, there is a difference in taurine between synthetic and natural which seems to be unique in many ways:

Wow…im confused now…i read an article on wikipedia that said the complete opposite. In this it says it was linked to things like heart disease and siezures and things…but on wikipedia it implies that taurine can be used to combat the problems…if im reading it correctly.

Synthetic and natural usually aren’t the same. The “molecule is a molecule” notion is a naive oversimplification of biochemistry. Look up the definition of “stereoisomer” to understand the difference. Generally speaking, only one is found in food, whereas both are usually found in synthetics. Sometimes the net effect is simply to dilute the bioavailability, but other times – as is the case with vitamin E – it is detrimental.

However taurine is one of the two amino acids lacking a stereoisomer (glycine being the other). Thus, there is no such thing as L-taurine (only taurine); synthetically produced taurine is chemically the same as naturally found taurine. Taurine and glycine are thus unusual in this regard, and exceptions to the general rule that synthetic production yields inferior, less bioavailable products.

I’m an insulin-dependent diabetic and was having trouble controling morning sugars – as low as 67 to highs of 187. Am also fibromyalgic. Real about taurine being good for diabetics, have been on 1 gram a day since January 10 and have felt no boost in energy but have had remarkable results in stabilizing my blood sugars. ?????

Taurine in a dose of 2.5 gm and above has a positive inotropic effect on the heart. It acts to increase the strength of the hearts contraction, resulting in a significant increase in stroke volume, without increasing blood pressure. The 2001 j of amino acids felt that this may be a good candidate to treat CHF patients. In 2001, there were no 16, 24 or 32 oz energy drinks. Back then the 8.2 oz (Red Bull) size contained 1000 mg of taurine. I have received many reports from Red Bull users that they have better reaction times and have improved test scores as compared to their times when not using it. And I have no connection to Red Bull. Now we have 32 oz E Drinks that contain 4000 mg of Taurine! Red Bull never intended the drink to be for thirst, but the size ramp up and huge competition have turned the 8.2 oz drink into a carbonated drink replacement. Only time will tell if consuming huge amounts of taurine is a bad idea but Captain Phil (Deadleast Catch) consumed i believe 55 Red Bulls in 5 days and then had a Pulmonary Embolism. He recently died but one can’t help but wonder if too much stroke volume in a unhealthy individual could “knock something loose”

This article is misleading! I take 3-4 grams of Taurine everyday for my Arrythmia. Read a real scientific study done with Taurine and L-Arginine, and the combination of these two amino acids decrease the number of arrythmiatic episodes per hour. Furthermore, for CHF, they are finding that Taurine is beneficial.

Captain Phil was also over weight, and from what I read his diet was not one that you’d compare to an Ornish diet. 50 Red Bulls a day is allot of caffenine as well, so who knows why he died.

I was extremely interested that it is considered a “suppresant” (sp). I have a rather interesting and converse theory. What if it doesn’t really “sedate” but opens or makes other venues open? Then what? ::shrugs:: I don’t really care how it sounds……but just think of the first guy to question MDMA or LSD……I really don’t want to be made fun of here…..I’d rather have your actual opinion.

50 Red Bulls per 5 days? that is 10 per day, that is quite a lot, i am not a scientist, i am no expert on taurine nor Red Bull. I just drink this energy drink for energy, one per day, and find that it actually gives me some sort of a boost by the end of the day. It actually acts more as a stimulant than a provider of energy. I believe though too much of anything is bad, specially being un-natural, taurine is only one of the many ingredients in Red Bull that one must consider before drinking in large quantities. I am trying to work on myself, to reduce such a need to be so dependant. I am sure any healthy person would agree with me that this is just an excuse, a type of addiction, and easier way to get energy… Maybe our bodies losing energy, is clearly a way (a Signal) that our natural body is letting us now that we need healthier foods, and more rest. Pumping our bodies with unnatural energy is tricking our overall natural system. It’s Basically cheating our body and mind.

thank you for all the comments stating that this article is clearly opinion. get ur facts straight. yea lets ban energy drinks, but keep cigarettes on the market so we can die of lung cancer and various other diseases.

I think if you look at Dr. Edward’s background studies you can conclude that there is going to be a certain bias toward anything that he is going to consider to be “unnatural”. Having him give us an objective view on something like red bull would be like having Keith Olbermann talk objectively about Sara Palin. Plus (as mentioned above) Switzerland is not only NOT a Scandinavian country… it is NOT one of the countries that has band red-bull. Only France, Denmark and Norway have banned the drink. So once again we have “experts” giving us slanted opinions not based on facts. And Dr. Edward…. France is not a Scandinavian country either.

Something similar happened to me, but it was not the result of drinking vodka or guarana. I was preparing for a trip to Scotland, and it began where I was having heart palpitations, and dizziness, Nausea, high and low blood pressure, it was all over the place. Got to Scotland, and ended up in an emergency room overnight. Couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, just felt horrible, and scared. I had always enjoyed good health til then. They put me on propanolol til I could get back to the states, but I think it made me feel worse. When I went to my Dr back in the states, I ended up with a barage of cardiology test. They found nothing wrong with my heart. They said that it was panic/anxiety attacks. and put me on prozac, ziac, prilosec, and klonozopam. After a time it seemed to level out, but I was still having good days and bad days. But much more tollerable! Then I mentioned to my dr about having issues with Restless leg syndrome. He put me on Requip and it seemed to help for about a week! Then I started having trouble with RLS during the day as well, and he said i had a reaction to the requip. So his answer to that was I didn’t have restless leg, I was bipolar. This made me very upset, and I asked him if it could be a food allergy, and he said adamently NO! NO way! To make a long story short, I came accross a website about MSG, and related symtoms, and guess what! I have several of the symptoms listed there! I am now doing an organic diet, have added Taurine and CoQ10 and Magnesium to my diet, and we shall see. But on day 3, i have to say I do feel better. I will keep you posted! But as for the prior post about the reaction versus a virus, I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t some sort of virus because, It hit me like a ton of bricks, and so suddenly. That still has me baffled! If any one out there has any thing similar going on, I’d be glad to hear from you! LInda

I am glad i found this page cause I NEED HELP! i was on excursion about a bit more than a month ago and i was there 2 days.I did not sleep whole night and i drank about a guarana or two and a bit of vodka.I did not mix it but i drank it both in about 30 mins difference.Anyways,next day i had some kind of ”attack” while i was in a bus. Suddenly i started to react violently on the sounds around me,everything seemed louder than it was,i shaked a lot and whenever someone would say something i would (i’m not sure how to say this) ”jounce”; i would shake in face as some of my friends said and i’m not sure how to describe that feeling but i was scared like never before.After it,when i returned,i had dizziness,some kind of instability in my head,i felt that i was kinda weak,and some more symptoms that i cannot remember or i don’t know how to describe.I was @ all kinds of doctor specialists and first they defined it all as a result of guarana and vodka,but i still don’t feel normal after more that a month,so it cant be all because of it.I believe its virus because my mother’s blood test is positive on some adenovirus and she was ill for about 2-3 months and she had similar symptoms.But i think it was not all because of virus cause she didn’t have that kind of ”attack” i mentioned before and i had some symptoms that she didn’t have.Thing that worries me the most is that I’ve been told not to drink any fizzy drinks or anything containing things like taurine,caffeine or stuff like that.Never again.There is nothing that clearly confirms that i have virus or guarana illness,its all just assumptions.Please help! Im almost 16,i live in Serbia

I am 31 years old & have had tremors in my hands that are similar to Parkinson’s disease tremors since I was 5. I also have had high blood pressure & insomnia for 5 years. I began drinking Red Bull 2 years ago…usually 2 or 3 cans a day & stopped drinking coffee and coke. I noticed after a few weeks that the tremors in my hands stopped almost completely after drinking Red Bull. I began researching Taurine & found out that it effects the same part of the brain that the neuro-meds the doctors wanted me to take for the tremors. Also, my blood pressure is now in the normal range & I sleep better than I have in years. I don’t usually drink Red Bull on the weekends, but do take a Taurine supplement that I buy at a local health food store. I’m not a doctor, nor do I have any proof that this is what has helped me, but I do know that I have felt much better & I don’t shake uncontrollably any more….and I’m not taking an expensive medicine for an irreversible progressive disease that has seemingly disappeared when Taurine is in my system….take it as you will….

Taurine is not the issue here. It’s probably the caffeine. I’ve read that there’s many types of caffeine. The caffeine in red bull allegedly doesn’t look like any of the types found in natural souces eg coffe, tea, cocoa, kola nut, etc. and probably is harmful to the body. This doesn’t just adhere to red bull, of course.

Yeah Linda That sounds absolutely reasonable. There is a horrible bipolar virus out there, sending people to the ER with manic psychosis in the dozens. All your problems with episodic anxiety and depression were just a cold. It must have been, because bipolars are known to NEVER deny that anything is wrong… *ahem* I am bipolar too by the way, and have found taurine to be extremely helpful in stabilizing my moods and control generalized + social anxiety. Good luck!

Hi all, I’m new here. Wonder if one of U gennies can figure this out. Not much on Dr. Google. Taurine seems to be v. confusing to all. I had amino acid bloodwork done…I got a call today saying my taurine was up to 278. I came off Chantix in Nov. a very slow ween. Found, I once again, hit rock bottom, after use. Stuff is great for not smoking but murder on neurotrn’s. Low on energy, tired after every meal, the usual malaise buy worse…I know that’s from the dopamine and noradreneline. What a mess. I do take a lot of vitamins. I have read that I cold be low in zinc or B6…..Can anyone definitavely tell me how this HI Taurine can affect me esp b’cause of ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia? How can it get so high w/o taking the supplement of Taurine? What I have been taking for sometime is Sam E 800mg along with a B complex and B12 1,000mg. I have increased the Sam E (post test) to 1600mg slowly….No major benefit yet; the black cloud is grey with touches of blue now. Please anyone??????

@cee hutte. Try ZMA for your possible zinc-b6 deficiency. Taken just before bed has helped me rest more soundly at night thus making me feel more energized throughout the day. Will start taking melatonin next week which is supposed to get you to that drowsy state…we’ll see. Both are fairly inexpensive. Have been using 3grams of taurine for pre-workout and I do seem to have more endurance. I wouldn’t say it’s more energy just less fatigue. Been using (and this is not a plug) bodybuilding.com for all my supplements. I’m sure a local health food store or GNC would carry this as well if you prefer to visit a store front. Prices seem to be a little cheaper at the .com and shipping is anywhere from $5-$10 depending on how much you get. You can also try nextag.com. What is the 278 in reference to on the taurine? What is supposed to be an ideal number?

Man…..I would really listen to the above “Surturner”…I am a medical student at 23 years of age In great shape, and last year around the time I was consuming those 32oz cans of Red Bull almost everyday, I almost loss my life from a pulmonary embolism…I had no idea! And the only thing I could link it to (in my changed behavior) was my consumption of Red Bull Doctors ran every genetic test possible to determine my risk factor for one..I didnt even have a Deep Venous Thrombosis (which almost 70% of patients with PE have on diagnosis-seen by ultrasound)….Be very Afraid! its not banned in several European countries for nothing….

coming from a pet food standpoint. added synthetic anything is a disclaimer meaning “use at your own (pet’s?) risk. taurine is known to slowly attack the heart tissue and eventually present itself as a heart attack in pets. I have large breed dogs and mine live longer than the average life span and beyond with a good quality of life. Taurine is an important component of an animal’s diet….only coming from it’s natural source that is.

^^^^ it says dont drink like more than two a day on the can. Its like cigarettes; it says it on the box, but people will still disregard the warnings. Taurine IS an amino acid and like the comment said about wikipedia, you can also check places like the mayo clinic or webmd. They are reputable places that the editors of the wikipedia page just regurgitated.

And if caffene stimulated and taurine sedated, wouldnt they almost cancel each other out? It doesn’t make sense that taurine would come into effect wayyyyy after the caffene… Thats just me though. Why not account for the amounts of sugar in the drinks? Ever heard of children crashing a while after a sugar high from candy? Wonder how much taurine they put in candy… Oh yeah, none.

You do a disservice to those looking for legitimate info (on, for instance, taurine supplementation) with this type of article. Others have pointed out the obvious defects of the article, but in addition, the European Food Safety Authority gave its opinion back in 2004 that taurine in amounts up to 1,000 mg per kilogram of body weight was not of concern. Making an assumption that taurine was at fault for the deaths you mention is irresponsible at best, because, very simply, no such connection can be made.

“…the Panel noted reports of acute health problems, including fatalities, in young people consuming energy drinks either in very high amounts (e.g. a reported case of someone drinking 1,420ml), in combination with physical exercise or more frequently together with alcohol. The panel also noted the SCF conclusion that the co-consumption of alcohol and/or drugs reported in most of these cases makes the interpretation of the reported cases particularly difficult. With regard to some recent reports, the Panel considered it possible that the health problems mentioned could be due to the well-known side effects of high caffeine intake, while the assumption of a causal relationship with taurine intake is lacking scientific evidence.” For the rest, see: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/ans090212.htm

I would be interested in citations for the studies that, as you say, “have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease.” That’s amazing, because I’ve read of many studies showing that it lowers blood pressure and has a calming effect on the nervous system.

This kind of alarmist, poorly researched write-up does a disservice to people looking for legitimate (unhyped) info on supplements like taurine.

for some reason when i drink normal caffeine energy drinks with nowt added they dont seem to make me feel more alert or full of energy just mayb a little less tired but when i drink 1 of these drinks like monster they keep me going for hours i had 2 500ml cans today 8 hours n by now when ive finished work im normally knackerd but im wide awake n feel like im wired, dont know if its the taurine or the added L-cartinine or L-tartrate

I honestly believe that some of your comments are just as ridiculous as this article. Whenever you make claims about anything , in this case taurine, you should have evidence to support your claims. If not, you sound ignorant and mis informed. There have been no studies showing that taurine is direct cause of seizures or heart disease. In addition there was a comment about someone developing a pulmonary embolism likely cased by taurine. Taurine has not been shown to make you hypercoagulable. Highly unlikely that taurine caused this gentleman’s PE. He probably had other risk factors that contributed to the pulmonary embolism.

Taurine is an amino acid that is found in type II muscle fibers.
According to the May 2011 issue of “Journal of Cardiology,” taurine showed improvements in exercise time, distance, and tolerance in individuals suffering from heart failure. Previous research showcased taurine’s impact on increasing left ventricular contractility, which lowers heart rates at sub-maximal intensities, thus improving performance in endurance activities, such as distance running and cross-country skiing. According to a July 2009 issue of “International Journal of Sports Medicine,” taurine was effective in decreasing lactate accumulation, which often impedes endurance performance. Taurine supplementation has also been shown to reduce exercise-induced muscle fatigue due to its antioxidative properties. These are the only real valid research studies that I have read on Taurine. If anyone has any additional research please share with everyone.
I am a sports medicine MD and a lot of my patients ask me about supplements. It is important to thouroughly research all supplements before taking them. Always look for the evidence. I do not care what the claims are.

What do you know about Celsius? The proprietary blend is a total of 1810mg of the following not indicating how much of each: Taurine, Guarana extract (seed), Green Tea leaf extract (leaf) to standardized to 10% EGCG, Caffeine (as caffeine anhydrous), Glucuronolactone, and Ginger extract (root).

It claims to burn up to an extra 100 calories or more with even minimal excercise.

Here in Finland two russian youngster died a couple ys ago when drinking lots of vodka and R.Bull. There exist an other possibility – there is ClubMate/ICE which has contest of only 22mgs/100ml and all natural coffein ( matein ) from yerba-mate tree and no taurine